Category: Travel

Early morning on a Sunday and I am already ripping on the NH4 towards Lonavala. Its funny how a lazy bone like me who would rather cut his right hand off and feed it to a dog than wake up early in the morning would get up and be in a town a 100 kilometres away before sunrise if it involves motorcycles. My friends are right. I SHOULD marry my motorcycle.

I have had out of body experiences before. Like the time when I was 8 and was carried out of the house by my dad when an earthquake had hit. Or the time when I was coming back from that deserted island in Andamans in the middle of the night and 10 feet high waves. Or the time I was drowning in Thailand. But in each of these cases, the situations themselves were surreal. Deep sleep, earthquake, drunkeness, drowning – pretty surreal circumstances for everyone. This time, however, it is different.

Good things have this strange habit. They come to an end. Every time. I guess that what makes them special. That, however, was the last thought on my mind when I left Bangalore today for Mangalore.

The plan was simple. Since I had spent 9 days in Bangalore, I needed to reach Mumbai quicker than earlier. So I would head to Mangalore, then to Karwar, spend a day in Goa and reach Mumbai the next day. Pretty simple, huh? I woke up at 11.30 after a rather extended night watching random films. However, half a day is more than enough to get to Mangalore and visit Kasaragod. It was a good plan.

As we woke up to today’s bright and sunny morning at the early hour of noon, we thought – Let’s make ourselves useful. Krishna is the sort of person who can help you make yourself useful but you need to sort of tell him the way. So I said Nandi Hills.

Good friends are like parents. Once you reach home, they pain you till you get frustrated enough not to discuss it anymore and agree to stay the extra day. For 10 days in a row. I think the similarities between friends and parents end there but then, that is not important here.

Ok, let me say this first. The ride ain’t over yet. The ride started in Mumbai and it will end in Mumbai. I am as close to the 90 day estimate I had with me when I started off. Going broke was an event I had already foreseen. I am just thankful it happened here and not in some place I don’t know anyone. But then, that would have been fun.

There are some things which no one can describe to you for. Like how Alice felt when she was going down the rabbit hole. Like what were Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo were thinking when they were drinking in the hotel in Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. Like why the dog sticks its head out of the car. Like what it feels like being broke.